clean heart ~ a look at Psalm 51

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Probably my
favorite psalm is Psalm 51. It’s my
favorite for a lot of reasons, but mostly because it is a song of
repentance. If you grew up in church, or
even if you didn’t, I’m sure you know the story of King David’s fall into sin
with Bathsheba. The Bible describes in 2
Samuel 11 a time when David lusted after a woman, Bathsheba, impregnated
her, lied to cover it up, killed her husband, and then broke Jewish tradition
and married Bathsheba. I’m sure the day
he married Bathsheba he breathed a sigh of relief. The secret of his sin was safe. That is until Nathan, the prophet, openly
rebuked David for his sin.

As a result, David was
broken, embarrassed, ashamed.But he was
also repentant. During this time
of brokenness he wrote, “Create in me a clean heart, O God.
Renew a loyal spirit within me. Do not banish me from Your presence, and don’t
take Your Holy Spirit from me.Restore
to me the joy of Your salvation, and make me willing to obey.Then I will teach (or sing, or declare, or
play) Your ways to rebels, and they will return to You…You do not desire a
sacrifice, or I would offer one.You do
not want a burnt offering.The sacrifice
You desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant
heart, O God.” (Psalm 51:10-17, NLT)

I
can’t even imagine how humbling this experience would have been.I can’t imagine the depth of David’s
brokenness.I can’t imagine the pain.But David’s brokenness came as a result of
his own personal exultation.David got a
little bit too big for his britches.

After all, he was David
the giant slayer.He was David the conqueror.He was David the King of the greatest nation
of that time.He could do whatever he wanted.He was the chosen one.God chose
him.God deposed the first king, Saul,
and established him as king.

But now,
David, nothing more than a broken man, crawls in humility to the throne.He asked for forgiveness.He asked for mercy.He asked for grace.He repented.He changed.And he found God
again.

I see myself
so much in this story.I’m not talking
about the adultery, but the haughty, puffy attitude
that David showed.God forgive me for having that attitude.

Every position we have...every gift God has
given us...every talent He’s placed in our hands...is a responsibility.It’s an obligation.It’s a calling.It’s a mission.That gift is not for our own glory.Even if we use our talents outside of a
church building—which we should by the way—it’s still not for our glory.Everything He has given for our hands to do
is to point people back to God…to His love…to His truth.It is our primary objective to lead people
into the presence of God.

David had a
calling on his life.God chose him to be
king because He trusted David with His people.God has a calling on your life. And you know what, just like David you're going to mess up. If you're called to be a mom, you're going to yell at your kids. You're going to have arguments with your spouse. Of course you are.

Our ability to fail is not really an option. It will happen. Our response to our failures will define the outcome of our lives.

Let God use the brokenness in your life to reform you. Run to Him and you will find Him.

"...when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. I will be found by you...I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes..."

2 comments

I love this Danette, I'm reading through the Old Testament right now and have been reading about David's life for the past week. I really appreciate your encouragement here, as a mom I often feel like a failure at the end of some hard days, I really do strive for perfection but don't really stop to think that perfection isn't even attainable.